Posted by For my project I focused on how mechanoreception works in fishes and what organs and systems are used. The top picture show a fish with its cephalic sensory canals surrounding the head and connecting to the lateral line. This is the general morphology for most fishes with some variation depending on how developed the fish is and what its body structure looks like. Moving down to the lower right hand picture, if you zoom in on the lateral line, you can see the neuromast organs in the skin and scales, and the canals that reach to the surface of the scales. This is where water reaches to the organs that are going to detect water movement, direction and speed. Then if you move over to the lower left-hand picture and zoom in on the neuromast organ, you can see all the components used for detection. The cupula with kinocilium inside it will sway based on water speed and direction. This signal is sent from the afferent fibers to the nerves and eventually back to the brain.
